STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2261

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2472

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2472 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PATIENT-CENTERED MEDICAL HOMES,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

     (1)  Define and establish "patient-centered medical homes";

     (2)  Encourage licensed health care providers and patients to partner in the patient-centered medical home;

     (3)  Define quality standards that will reduce disparities in health care access, delivery, and health care outcomes; and

     (4)  Improve the overall quality of health care and lower the costs therein.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of the Governor, AARP Hawaii, Kaiser Permanente, and two individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Human Services.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of the Attorney General, HMSA, and Ohana Health Plan.

     Your Committees find that though defining and encouraging the utilization of patient-centered medical homes are critical to providing better care for the people of the State, the State should not define the patient-centered medical home in terms that are dissimilar to federal laws so that the State remains eligible for federal assistance in promoting the patient-centered health home under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by replacing the language that established a new chapter, the Patient-Centered Medical Home Act, with language provided by the Healthcare Transformation Coordinator of the Office of the Governor, which:

     (1)  Supports the implementation of the Med-Quest Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative to allow the State to access federal support under the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;

     (2)  Describes the reporting duties of the Healthcare Transformation Coordinator with regard to the Med-Quest Patient-Centered Medical Home Initiative;

     (3)  Appropriates funds for the Department of Human Services to implement a patient-centered medical home pilot with federal matching funds and to the Office of the Governor to support the Healthcare Transformation Coordinator and staff; and

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2472, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2472, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Health and Human Services,

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair

____________________________ JOSH GREEN, M.D., Chair